This has to be the most neglected blog ever (well, except for Jay !!).  Life has been crazy and turned upside down over the last couple of months and my blog has been put on the back burner.  I have to admit that I have really missed it!

One thing that definitely deserves a blog post is the breakfast Jonathan and I had at Myra’s Saturday morning.  It was amazing!!  I had my usual stuffed french toast.  I typically do not eat french toast, as it usually just tastes like loaf bread with eggs to me.  If I had to pick one food that disgusts me more than any other food…it would be the egg!  If it would the only food left, I would probably try to force myself to eat it…but it would have to be desperate times!

Anyway, back to the french toast – Myra leaves the eggs out for me and dips it in a sort of pancake batter.  It is then stuffed with nuts, cream cheese, and powdered sugar and topped with some whipped cream — AMAZING!

Jonathan had his usual eggs (nasty…but for whatever reason he loves them!), bacon, and hash browns.  This time he had hash browns with onions, bacon, and cheese — also AMAZING!  They were the best hashbrowns/home fries I have ever eaten.  We’ve been doing a lot less eating out these days, so it was nice to get to see Myra and Martha. 

Speaking of not eating out, I have made it a point to try as many new recipes as possible each week.  There are several that I know will become “regulars” in my recipe collection.  I’ll try to post several of them soon. 

That actually leads to my other recent project…I’m writing a cookbook!  I don’t actually know that anyone will ever want to read it, but my sister talked me into it a couple of months ago and I wanted to have it completed for my granny’s birthday in March.  I’m getting down to my deadline and I have to get it finished over the weekend.  More on that soon!

I am not quite sure if I am getting old and my memory is starting to go or if this has been a pretty boring year.  I have sat here racking my brain trying to think of all the great (and even not-so-great) things that happened with our family in 2008. 

• Probably the most exciting and time-consuming event was my sister’s wedding.   We love our new brother-in-law, niece, and nephew!!  They are a great addition to our family.
• We were devastated when I lost my job over the summer, but felt so blessed when I found a new one a few months later. 
• This is the first year probably in my entire life that I did not go to the beach.  The last time we were there was Labor Day 2007, which feels like forever ago.  That is why one of my resolutions is to slow down a little and take more time for ourselves — a beach trip will definitely be in our near future. 
• The family Savannah trip – The only place we did get to visit this year was Savannah in mid March for my Granny’s 76th Birthday.  It was one of the greatest trips ever!  Savannah has long been a special place for Jonathan and me, but now it is special for my whole family.  He wants to move there so bad he can hardly stand it!
• THE Driver’s Permit — In October, Phillip got his driver’s permit.  That makes him a grown up now — didn’t you realize that?  Me either!  He is doing a great job, however.
• Jonathan left the fire department – After 20 years as a volunteer fireman, Jonathan hung up his turn-out gear for the last time this year.  I think, more than anything, he just needed a break.  I actually hope he will decide to return in a few years. 
• The Confection Company grew tremendously — In this failing economy, 2008 was actually a really great year for the Confection Company.  We added a lot of new products, did several new shows, and now have the excitement of moving!  I predict that 2009 will hold even more surprises!
• Another year and no baby — This is probably the saddest part of my year for me personally.  Each year around this time, my mom tells me that this will be “our year” and “it’s going to happen…I just know it will,” but each year she is wrong (usually just about this; she is usually right about everything else), but I am praying will all my heart that this will be the year she is right and we will find a way to bring a new little one into our lives. 
• Since Jonathan and I have been together, we have had a difficult time finding a church where we can both be happy.  A nice blend of the churches from our past.  Little did we know that a church unlike any other we have ever attended would fit the bill!  Brick City Community Church has been a blessing to us both and I hope 2009 will allow us the time and resources to become even more involved. 

As you can tell, I have been on a bit of a hiatus from the blog…not intentional might I add!  The Confection Company had a very successful Christmas season, and it really kept me busier than anticipated.   So much has happened over the last couple of months – I’ll try to squeeze a lot of it into this one post.

• We are almost moved out of Shops of Steele Street and the transition into Added Accents and Cafe 121 is occurring over the next couple of days.   We are very excited to have teamed up with two fabulous businesses!
• New website — Amy’s is getting a whole new look!  A wonderful website designer is in the process of finishing up the new site and I will post as soon as it launches. 
• Christmas – Christmas was wonderful!  I could not have asked for anything better.  I think all four of us really enjoyed the entire Christmas season (along with our extended family).  Christmas Day, as usual, was a whirlwind, but it was great fun! 
• Breakfast at Myra’s – Myra’s Kitchen has started opening for breakfast Monday through Saturday.  I few weeks ago Jonathan and I were able to get by there on a Saturday morning to try it out, and I am so glad we did!  Myra knows that I do not eat eggs and that I think most French Toast tastes like bread soaked in scrambled eggs — gross!  So, she made me the most delicious egg-free French Toast ever, and it was stuffed with cream cheese and pecans and topped with whipped cream.  IT.WAS.TO.DIE.FOR!  Jonathan had eggs (still gross), bacon and sausage (I know…can you say I had a heart attack three years ago?), home fries with onions, and a biscuit.  He also loved everything, especially the home fries!
• Honey Baked Ham Store – About 5+ years ago, I started a new Christmas tradition for my mom.  I always buy her a Honey Baked Ham a few days before Christmas.  Jonathan and I ventured to Cary the day before Christmas Eve and he was kind enough to wait in the line that stretched WAY out the door to get THE ham!  And it was well worth the wait.  It was the best Honey Baked Ham we have ever had.  Everything about it was absolutely perfect!
• Handmade gifts – When my sister got married in August, she was blessed with two amazing stepchildren – twins no less, a boy and a girl (10 years old).  Two of my favorite gifts this year came from my new niece and nephew – a hand-painted birdhouse and a handmade “baking lady” ornament.  I love receiving handmade gifts and these are two I will always treasure.
• The magical amazing fabulous Jawhorse – For literally months, I have listened to Jonathan talk about wanting a Jawhorse.  Every time a commercial would come on he would drool in silence as he stared at the screen.  Not to mention the full infomercial — the whole world would have to stop for 30 minutes (it feels like hours) while he watched it AGAIN!  I would remind him that it was the same commercial/infomercial that he had already watched 50 times, but he would watch it anyway.   We had agreed to only buy each other small gifts (which ultimately did not exactly happen), so I did not buy the Jawhorse for him for Christmas.  Fortunately, the after-Christmas elves at our house ordered him one a few days ago and it arrived this morning!  I cannot wait until he gets home and can open it up and try it out!  I really hope it is “everything” he hopes it will be and it does not disappoint!
• Speaking of those “small gifts,” I was so excited that Jonathan gave me a set of Paula Deen Cookware.  This is what I have drooled over every time we go to Sams.  He was very generous this year — I also got a huge painting from the Carpenter’s Shop that I have had my eye on for a while and several other wonderful gifts!
• Shopping the day after Christmas – I had not planned to shop the day after Christmas, but somehow my sister conned me into driving us both to Apex.  I have not been to SuperTarget in Apex in probably 5 years.  We usually need to go to several other places in Cary, so we always go there if we need to go to Target.  Boy am I glad we went…I had no idea there were so many new stores – Old Navy, Kohls, Circuit City, Home Depot, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and the list goes on and on.  SuperTarget, in my opinion, was worse than WalMart the day after Thanksgiving.  People were pushing and shoving and reaching and grabbing.  It was crazy.  After a while, I had to get out of the Christmas section.  I just could not take anymore.  Melissa, however, is another story.  She thrives in that kind of environment.  I planted myself in the automotive section down the aisle and she would bring her “finds” and put them in the cart.  If there was something I liked, she would go back to wrestle some little old lady to get one for me also (not really, but it sounds more exciting that way)!
• My musician – Phillip started guitar lessons maybe 7 or 8 months ago (I cannot remember for sure) and has really developed a great talent.  We bought him a new book of songs that we like (luckily he likes many of the same things we do) and he has been breezing through it, serenading me with songs that I love.  I am so proud of him!

There are so many other things that I am sure I wanted to write about, but I have to get back in the kitchen…truffles are calling!

Note — I wrote this a week or so ago, but apparently forgot to publish it!

I have missed my blog over the past several weeks.  I often have good intentions and think of several things a day that I would love to write about, but somehow I usually get caught up in something else and never find the time to do it.  It has not helped that the power cord for our laptop has basically died and I do not think I can find a new one locally.  Ordering one on-line has also been on my to-do list, but has been neglected!

Thanksgiving:  It was AWESOME as usual!!  My granny, mom, sister, and myself all cook way too much, and everything was extra-tasty this year.  Jonathan fried his famous turkey and there were no leftovers, which was really disappointing!  Phillip spent his first Thanksgiving ever with us.  In past years I have always been just a little sad on Thanksgiving Day when he couldn’t be with us, but this year we were complete.  He spent lunch with us and Brandon was with us for our “leftover supper.” 

I feel like we have so much this year to be thankful for.  We have a great family and wonderful friends.  We finally found a new church home this year.  The list could go on and on!

Open House:  I haven’t really had time to write since open house.  It was a great success.  We had a great turnout and met a lot of great new customers.  We passed out lots of samples of Mr. Amy’s dips and many of the other new Christmas products.  I think I will probably try to also have a spring open house this year. 

Christmas and the Confection Company:  I think I pretty much run off of adrenaline from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas Eve (with a little break and then back to the adrenaline to get me through Valentine’s Day).  I spent most of the weekend stocking the shop and putting the final touches on some new recipes I have been working on.  I’m excited about the Christmas season at the shop!

Black Friday:  Practically every Friday after Thanksgiving of my adult life has been spent battling other crazed shoppers with my mom and sister.   And we are not your casual Black Friday shoppers — we are hard core, doning walkie talkies, maps of Wal-Mart — you name it and we have probably done it!  But this year, I just did not have it in me!  Last week truly exhausted me…between filling customer orders and preparing my personal Thanksgiving dishes, I was so tired Friday morning.  My mom called with my 3:30 a.m. wakeup call and I could not manage to pull myself from the warm covers.  The thought of the cold night (or rather early morning) air was not as inviting as it has been to me in past years!  Maybe part of it was knowing that we have decided to drastically cut the amount that we spedn this year and I have really been having a hard time figuring out what to buy for everyone — or maybe I was just feeling lazy.  Either way, mom and Melissa had a great time and returned with two cars loaded to the brim!

Upcoming events:  So much coming up, but more on this later!

I have been such a bad blogger for the last month!!  Things around here have been crazy and I have actually had some trouble with my blog.  Somehow some posts (and comments — and they were great comments that I hadn’t responded to yet!) are missing and I have just been really irritated with it! 

We are now down to less than 2 months to go before my sister’s wedding, and the festivities have begun!!  This past Saturday was her first shower, and it was great!  I was really excited about this one, because my “Mt. Airy family” was coming.  My aunt and uncle (my dad’s older brother and his wife) hosted a Jack and Jill shower at their home with a big cookout afterwards.   Besides my dad and his older brother, most of their family lives in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, aka Mayberry.  Yes, the real Mayberry.  I love to visit there.  As a child, I would beg to move there.  It is just a different kind of place.  Things really do seem simpler somehow.  And my “Mt. Airy family” is fabulous!  I love every one of them so much and we rarely get to see them.  Melissa & John received lots of really great gifts, and John was able to meet a lot of our family. 

By far, the best part of the night was the pickin’ session at my parents’ house afterwards.  My uncle Dennis (who is married to my dad’s baby sister, Carolyn) is the best acoustic guitar player I have ever seen — and I don’t just mean in person.  I have never watched anyone on TV who I thought compared to him.  I could sit and listen to him play for hours.  He is absolutely amazing.  Some of my fondest childhood memories include Dennis and my uncle Gary playing into all hours of the night.  Luckily, he is passing his gift along, and has taught his son, Jeremy, and his nephew (my cousin), Mitchell to play.  These guys are really doing great and have put a whole new twist on their music sessions. 

Luckily, I had my little Flip video camera with me, and I was able to capture some of the moments of the evening.  The quality is not great, because I didn’t actually intend to use them for anything (so turn your volume up and ignore the laughter), but the song is funny — especially if you have filled up your gas tank today.  So, below is a parody of Bill Clinton (on the left) and George Bush discussing the gas situation.